East Timor: CIIR staff member speaks at Truth and Reconciliation Commission
6 5 2003
CIIR women's
advocacy officer for East Timor Ivete D'Oliveira reports on
her submission to East Timor's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on
28 April:
The Truth
and Reconciliation Commission brought together 20 women survivors
from villages and districts to give their testimonies about the crimes
that
happened to them under Indonesian occupation from 1974 to 1999.
They highlighted
crimes perpetuated by the East Timorese to show that the
Indonesians were not the only ones who committed crimes in East Timor.
I helped
some of the women prepare a submission about their experiences in
the conflict. I described the kinds of violence they had suffered and
included a gender analysis about the impact of war on women and society.
They trusted
me to present the submission on the first day of the public
hearing. I took questions, especially about how the barlaki system (bride
price) reinforces the sense of men's ownership over women, and how rape
is
used as a weapon against women and men. East Timorese society closes its
eyes to rape, but when a woman is raped by the enemy they denounce it
openly.
Our submission
included recommendations to the government for how the
justice, reconciliation and rehabilitation processes should work for women
survivors. We asked the government and society to see these women not
in
terms of their party or ideological affiliation, but in terms of how they
suffered because of their sex.